30 Ways We Stayed Together
by Liem
Summary: A series of drabbles written for KokuyoxHisui: a love through all the years and times. [COMPLETE]
1. Say Hi for Me

**Title: **Say "Hi" for Me  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#17—Five more minutes?  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **Slight AU. God might have just been a big ol' softie at heart, but Kokuyo knows his father isn't.  
**Warnings: **(Eventual) character death and minor spoilers for the end of the series.

Kokuyo'd been relieved that Hisui hadn't been punished; he'd known he wouldn't get off so easy. Nobody crossed Satan without consequences. Not even his son.

The angel, standing by his side, watched as he frowned at the single strand of gray pinched between his fingers.

"How much longer?" Kokuyo asked, not bothering to look at him, or elaborate.

Hisui knew what he meant. "A long time yet."

Kokuyo glanced in the mirror at himself again. Barely visible lines were beginning to criss-cross his face, and he seemed tired, exhausted—human. "I should leave, before—"

"Kokuyo," Hisui interrupted him. "Don't do to me what Hotaru-san did to Shuichiro and his father."

"It wouldn't matter, would it? Thirty more years, forty. It's a long time for a human; short for you."

"But you'll still be there. Or would you rather die somewhere far away, where I won't be with you?"

"Hisui…" He kissed his lover suddenly. "If I stayed...would you mind an old man?"

Hisui, flushed, smiled a little archly at him, uncharacteristically coquettish. "Not if you keep kissing like that."

"Oh really," he asked dryly.

"Yes."

Twirling the gray strand between his fingers, he said, "Then at least…when that bubble-head wakes up—" He chucked the hair away, and pulled the angel a little closer to him. "Say hi to him for me."


	2. Here

**Title:** Here  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Hisui/Kokuyo  
**Theme: **#22: Beautiful  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Summary: **This is where and when Kokuyo thinks Hisui is most beautiful.  
**Spoiler Warning: **None.

Hisui was beautiful. He was poise and grace and smiling calm, his hair always neatly tied back, his clothes never wrinkled.

But as Kokuyo's hand slid over his skin it left a burning trail and he moaned, arching into the touch. Here at this spring, a bridge meeting abandoned for the prince of Hell, he came undone. Here he was flushed skin and tangled hair and soft moans and words like "More," and "Please." Here, Kokuyo thought, and like this (he twined his hand in the angel's hair and kissed him, heard him moan) Hisui was most beautiful.


	3. Unspoken

**Title: **Unspoken  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Hisui/Kokuyo  
**Theme: **What you say, what you mean  
**Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **AU. In which Kokuyo runs into somebody he's, to say the least, interested in.  
**Author's Notes: **An AU. It's not going to be the only one, either.

The long hair caught his attention first.

"Hey," he said casually, stopping on the stairwell. His eyes flicked over the flat stomach accentuated by the T-shirt and the jeans which hugged hips enough for him to admire and think "Nice ass."

And then he heard a "Hello," and he flicked his eyes back up in time to catch another pair (green, _very_ nice) observing him in the same way.

He smirked and continued down the stairs. No more words were said, but he knew this wasn't going to end at just this.


	4. Sacred Union

**Title: **Sacred Union  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#10 Romance  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Summary: **Kokuyo isn't much on religion but he thinks maybe this would send him straight to Hell. (But he doesn't really care.)  
**Notes/Warnings: **AU. In which Kokuyo _and_ Hisui are men. So this time I'm not lying when I say yaoi.

"I'm not sure we should be doing this here."

"Nobody's around."

"Yes, but—" Hisui angled his face away from Kokuyo. The other man didn't miss a beat and just continued to kiss him: on his jaw, on his neck, and on his collarbone, continuing even lower until Hisui stopped him. "Kokuyo."

Kokuyo paused, but not before he'd nibbled lightly on Hisui's ear. He didn't move his lips away when he spoke. "Do you want this?"

His hot breath on Hisui's already flushed skin made the older man shiver. "Yes. But…not here."

"Why?"

"Because it's a—"

"Church?" His tongue flickered out, tasting the skin of Hisui's neck.

A moan. "Yes."

Grinning in the darkness, he slid a hand up Hisui's shirt, palm flat against the heated skin. "Don't worry. I'm sure God wouldn't mind."


	5. Different Uses

**Title: **Different Uses**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#1—Chocolate**  
Rating: **PG-13**  
Summary: **Hisui is baking a chocolate cake for Kohaku to give Shuichiro; Kokuyo thinks the ingredients can be put to better use. **  
Warnings: **PG-13 for some touching.

Kokuyo stared at the brown goo that Hisui was stirring in a bowl, and raised an eyebrow.

"It's chocolate," the angel explained. "A human thing. Kohaku wanted to make a cake for Shuichiro, but he was dangerously close to setting the kitchen on fire, so I took over."

Kokuyo snorted. "That bubblehead couldn't toss a salad without burning it. What did he want to bake a cake for anyway?"

"For Valentine's Day. He heard that it was a day when girls gave chocolate gifts to a special person."

"He's not a girl," Kokuyo pointed out.

"Well, he's not a boy either," Hisui said. "Besides, it doesn't matter. I think that it's very sweet of him to do this."

"_You're_ the one making the cake."

"I meant that it's very sweet of him to try." Hisui turned around, raising a spatula dripping with the batter. "I'm making some for you too. Do you want to taste a little bit?"

Kokuyo pried the spatula away from his lover and, very slowly, trailed a swathe of the sweet mixture down his slender neck. "Oh, I know what chocolate is. And I could of plenty of…_other_ things to do with it."

Closing his eyes, the angel shivered.


	6. These Things I Remember

**Title: **These Things I Remember  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#27: Forgive without forgetting  
**Rating: **G  
**Summary: **Hisui can forgive, but he can never forget. Never. He is, after all, an angel.  
**Notes/Warnings: **Follow-up to #5: Five more minutes? Character death.

Hisui can forgive Satan for punishing Kokuyo. He can forgive him for taking Kokuyo away. He can forgive him for robbing Kokuyo of the life he should have had. He can; it is in his nature to do so, even if Kokuyo's absence tears a hole in his heart.

But how can he forget? How can he erase from his memory Kokuyo? His silent understanding, his rough gentleness, his firm interference when Koryu's teasing went too far? How?

Hisui can forgive, but he will never forget.


	7. Trust in Hitsuzen

**Title: **Trust in Hitsuzen**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#18—Vanity **  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Kokuyo wants to talk. **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **AU. Kokuyo and Hisui are both men. Follow up to #23—What you say, what you mean.

"So how do you know he'll even be interested?"

Kokuyo glared at his cousin. "He is."

"But what if he isn't?" Koryu insisted.

"Then he will be."

"You are so conceited."

"Come on," Kokuyo smirked. "Look at me. How can I not be?"

"Arrogance is a real turn-on," Koryu said sarcastically.

Kokuyo sobered up. "You know I was joking. But let's be serious now. I really like this guy, and I think it'll work out."

"You haven't even spoken to him yet!"

"Some things are meant to be."

Koryu snorted. "Fate?"

"Hitsuzen."


	8. Step Inside

**Title: **Step Inside**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#19—Humility**  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Hisui is willing to reciprocate. **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **AU. Kokuyo and Hisui are both men. Follow up to #23—What you say, what you mean, and #18—Vanity.

There was a quiet confidence to Hisui that made Kokuyo abandon all suavity, all smooth words of promises, when the blonde man opened the door to his apartment.

"Hey."

"Hello."

"I saw you the other day," Kokuyo began. "On the stairs—"

"I saw you, too." Hisui smiled, green eyes warm.

"I thought that I'd come and talk." It was a simple statement, and he waited patiently for the reply.

Hisui opened the door a little wider. "Come in."

He stepped inside.


	9. Fragments

**Title: **Fragments**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#14—Trees **  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Hisui has always been good at seeing the big picture, but can he be blamed for sometimes loving the fragments that make up the whole? **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **None.

They say you can't see the forest until you step back from the trees; until you step back from the cluster of individual trunks and look at the big picture.

Hisui has always been good at seeing the big picture: the wider panorama, the way everything and everyone is connected in a web of hitsuzen.

But when it comes to Kokuyo, Hisui cannot help but focus on the little things: the demon's bristly hair and how it falls into his eyes; his ink-dark eye; and always, if the angel thinks of that, the earring embedded in his own ear, sign and symbol of their love.

When it comes to these things, can he be blamed, Hisui thinks, for loving the fragments that make up the whole?


	10. Love&Romance

**Title: **Love&Romance  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#30—Love  
**Rating: **G  
**Summary: **Love and romance are different.  
**Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Wish doesn't belong to me (sadly).

Love and romance are two different things.

Romance is a pretty word. It encompasses flowers and chocolates, a game played with compliments and gifts. The goal is to woo over another; to win their affections.

And love? It is so many things, but the one thing it is not is a game. How can there be competition? Hisui knows that love is an intangible force. It can't be measured by weight or amount. But perhaps it can be felt in the actions it drives.

Kohaku loves Shuichiro. For that, he is willing to sleep for a hundred years, to wait to be with the one he loves.

And Hisui. He left Heaven, gave up his wings to come to earth. Kokuyo surrendered his left eye; half his power gone, and it rests in Hisui's ear. Love. It is not giving into another. It is not two people competing for dominance.

It simply exists, a bonding force among people.


	11. Welcome

**Title: **Welcome  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui (Kurogane/Fai)  
**Theme: **#13—Flight  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **Shuichiro thinks that, after meeting Kohaku, he can handle pretty much anything. That is, until five complete strangers come tumbling into his garden.  
**Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Crossover of Wish and Tsubasa. Spoilers for all of Wish, and for Tsubasa up to and past the Tokyo arc.

They landed in a heap: the blonde man in an outlandish fur coat, the brooding one cloaked all in black, and the boy who immediately rushed over to the girl cradling a white, fluffy plush toy.

Shuichiro stared. Angels who waited for him a hundred years in a comatose state he could accept. Angel masters who eloped with their demon lovers he got. Said demon lovers' cousins and their cat servants popping up randomly to harass him he could get used to. But a large group of people suddenly dropping out of the sky into his garden?

He tried to work it out logically. "Are you guys…ummm…angels?" They blinked at him confusedly. "Demons?"

"Who're you calling demons?" the man in black growled.

Okay. So not angels or demons. Maybe it was time he called for some help. "Uh—Kohaku?" No answering squeal of delight. "Hisui?" Still nothing. At lest, nothing from the two angels; instead, Kokuyo strode out onto the porch, one eye narrowed against the sun. Oh. Okay. Shuichiro could work with that too. "Kokuyo—"

"Who are you?" the demon barked. At any rate, he always got straight to the point.

The boy got to his feet and answered politely. "We're travelers, searching for something. We're sorry if we disturbed you, but we, uh—" He looked at the fluffy plush toy. "We don't really have control of where we land."

"You're dimension travelers," Kokuyo stated flatly.

"Yup, yup!" The toy jumped out of the girl's arms. "We're looking for Sakura's feathers. Have you seen any?"

"Quiet, you manjuu bun," the man in black growled. "You don't even know who he is."

"I don't think he'll hurt us." The girl spoke for the first time.

"Just because he can't doesn't mean he won't try."

"Really, Kurogane, you're always so suspicious. Why don't we start over again?" Standing up, the blonde man began introducing himself and the others. "Hello! My name is Fai D. Flowright. This is Syaoran-kun—" He pointed to the boy. "Sakura-chan," indicating the girl, "Mokona," the toy jumped up and down, "and of course, Kurogane. As Mokona said, we're on a journey, and we would be very grateful for any help you can give."

"…say what?" Shuichiro had been standing to the side. He grappled with the concept. "So…you guys are travelers? Searching for something? And…you need a place to stay?"

"Exactly!"

"Well then—" Shuichiro glanced over at Kokuyo, who shrugged ("It's your house, and I don't think they're dangerous."). "I guess you could stay at my house."

"Thank you so much!" Sakura cried, and leaped to her feet.

"Ummm…okay. I'll—uh—I'll show you to the guest rooms."

So. Dimension travelers. This, he could handle too. Really. He could.

As they all trooped into the house, they met Hisui and Kohaku unpacking groceries. Well, that would explain their absence in Shuichiro's time of need.

"Shuichiro!" Kohaku ran up and hugged him. "Oh!" He noticed the crowd. "Who are they?"

"Guests," Shuichiro said, trying to keep it simple. "Dimension travelers. They need a place to stay."

"How wonderful!" Hisui came forward and placed a hand on Kokuyo's arm. "Why don't you all go and rest a little, and when dinner's ready, I'll call you."

Fai thanked him, and the five travelers followed Shuichiro and a bubbling Kohaku out of the kitchen. Sakura turned around once as they left, just in time to see Hisui gently kiss Kokuyo's left eye.

"I think we'll be safe here," she whispered to Syaoran. When he looked at her, puzzled, she simply said, "I have a good feeling about these people."


	12. Connection

**Title: **Connection  
**Fandom**: Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui (Kurogane/Fai)  
**Theme: **#29—See the world my way  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **Kurogane and Kokuyo have a talk.  
**Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warnings: **Tsubasa and Wish do not belong to me. Spoilers for all of Wish and up to and past Tokyo arc for Tsubasa.

Angels. Angels and demons. Well, Kurogane thought, he'd seen weirder things. Besides, these people (were they people?) weren't too bad. Of course, there was the fact that Kurogane still couldn't decide whether he should think of Kohaku and Hisui as women or men; but then, as Sakura had said in her simply way, did it really matter all that much?

"Waiting for that mage?"

Kurogane didn't look up from his seat at the table. "I'm not waiting for anyone."

"Oh really." There was a creak as Kokuyo settled himself across from Kurogane. "The princess says that that little toy of yours has sensed as feather nearby."

"He has. We've been looking for it all day."

"You could just ask that mage of yours to cast a locating spell."

"He's not my mage. And he doesn't like to use his magic."

"I've noticed."

"What about Hisui?"

"What about him?"

"Is he…yours?"

"He isn't mine." Kokuyo gazed at Kurogane, unblinking, and Kurogane was almost forced to notice the blank, milky space of his left eye. "Connection isn't about owning."

And he left Kurogane, still sitting.

* * *

Kokuyo was always with Hisui, it seemed. Inseparable. Kurogane envied the demon for that. Even Sakura could see the thousand and one signs that he and the angel loved each other: the subtle, constant gestures, words. The thousand and one things that existed between Fai and himself; but those words and gestures spelled out an entirely different story.

"Kokuyo and Hisui," Fai murmured one night, mouth still at Kurogane's wrist. "They really love each other. They're happy."

Kurogane grunted. Of course they were.

* * *

"You gave your left eye to him?" They were sitting at the table again.

"It's customary for members of the royal family of Hell. Half your power for your beholden."

"He accepted it?"

"Yes. That mage doesn't, though, does he?"

"Doesn't what?"

Cool stare, heated glance. "Don't think I can't tell. It's more than obvious."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"I'm a devil. What do you think?"

"I think it's none of your business."

"I'm not telling you what to do. Just observing."

"Quit observing me."

Kokuyo met him eye-to-eye. "Then quit observing me. It's not going to give you any answers."

* * *

When they left, feather safely returned to Sakura, Kokuyo locked eyes with Kurogane. _Love alone doesn't always guarantee perfect happiness, _he silently said.

Kurogane knew. Kokuyo and Hisui loved each other. They were happy.

Those were two completely different things.


	13. Snowfall

**Title: **Snowfall**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#24—Snowfall **  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Somehow, the snow seems more beautiful on earth.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **No spoilers.

In heaven, there had been seasons—summer, fall, winter, spring. But they were all only measurements of time, something to determine when bridge meetings took place.

When Kohaku saw snow for the first time on earth, he ran out laughing delightedly. Hisui followed, calmer but just as curious. Snow on earth—he stepped out from under the sheltering roof and tilted his head skyward. The flakes of snow looked so soft as they floated down; but they stung when they fell on the angel's skin, a sudden, sharp, pinprick of pain that melted instantly and sent a trickle of water running down his cheeks. Hisui shivered.

Then a warm pair of arms engulfed him from behind. "Watching the snow?" Kokuyo murmured into his ear.

"It's beautiful." And he settled back against Kokuyo, whose warmth chased away the snow's biting cold.


	14. Protection

**Title: **Protection**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#15—I'll protect you**  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Kokuyo knows that he doesn't worry because he thinks Hisui is weak. He worries because he loves the angel.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **None.

Hisui does not need protection. He is more than capable of taking care of himself. Gifted in spells, attack as well as healing, he can best even Koryu in a battle.

That is why Kokuyo knows that he does not need to play the big, strong bodyguard to Hisui's frail, helpless damsel. Hisui, in his characteristically gentle way, is firm—powerful. He is not Kokuyo's lesser, fragile-seeming or not.

But still, Kokuyo cannot help but feel a concern for Hisui. It is not a worry born of fear at any inadequacy of Hisui to take care of himself, but of the connection between them. It is a bond that runs deep, and Kokuyo knows that is why he worries—because he could never bear to see Hisui hurt.

Once angels fall in love, they can never forget. Kokuyo is discovering that devils cannot, either.


	15. Eye of the Hurricane

**Title: **Eye of the Hurricane  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#8—Kitchen  
**Rating: **PG  
**Author's Notes: **No spoilers.

It is Shuichiro's birthday. Kohaku flies about, trying to be helpful; Hisui presides in the kitchen, and tactfully steers the younger angel away whenever he comes near the stove; even Koryu has come up from Hell, if only to tease and bully Kohaku; and somehow, Kokuyo finds himself roped into the chaos.

At least, he reflects philosophically as he kneads some dough, he only has to help Hisui prepare the cake, and not blow up balloons like Kohaku.

"Kokuyo," Hisui says, "hand me the mixing bowl, please."

He holds out the requested item, sneaking in a kiss when Hisui reaches for the bowl. Hisui swats him away gently, and he grins. "Come on," he coaxes. "Just one kiss, and then I'll go back to work. I promise."

Hisui says, "One kiss always turns into too many with you," but "no" almost always turns into "yes" with Hisui, and soon he and Kokuyo are pressed up against the counter, mixing bowl forgotten.

There's flour on Kokuyo's hands; it gets in Hisui's hair, making the angel reach up to sweep it away. A simple gesture, but it highlights his beauty, the beauty that goes beyond mere skin and bone. Kokuyo murmurs, "I love you," and Hisui moves closer, because Kokuyo isn't one to use words lightly, often and frivolously. That is why Hisui knows he truly means it when he says those three words.

They get a few blissful minutes, and then Kohaku stumbles into the kitchen, Koryu hot on her tail with a water balloon. Hisui rescues Kohaku; Kokuyo shoots a "You'd better not do anything" glare at Koryu.

Chaos barges back in, loud and demanding, and Kokuyo comforts himself with the thought of a long, peaceful night alone with Hisui. Provided, of course, Kohaku doesn't destroy the house before the afternoon is half over.


	16. Every Word a Gem

**Title: **Every Word a Gem**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#16—Honesty **  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **They all know what Kokuyo says is mostly a lie, but Hisui listens, and waits for those words he knows are true.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Wish doesn't belong to me, blah blah blah. Also, this is part of the AU series.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says, and he knows it is a lie.

"I can't wait to see you again," he says, and nobody is fooled.

"I want you to call me," he says, and they accept it as an empty invitation.

What Kokuyo says is not so much a lie as a void promise, because he does not offer anything to back it up. No love, no anger, even—nothing. No part of himself.

But when Hisui welcomes him in, he does not ask for anything in return. Even if, maybe, this time, Kokuyo is willing to give. Hisui simply waits, and Kokuyo takes his time, because this—this can't be rushed. And then,

"I love you," he says, and they both know that he finally means it.


	17. Carve This in Memory

**Title: **Carve this in Memory**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#20—Say it right now, I hope to see you again.**  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **Even if everything, every detail, fades away, he will remember the sudden clenching of his heart at that smile.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Wish doesn't belong to me. Spoilers for the third volume of Wish.

It is not _someone_ he sees first. Not a person, in whole, but a flutter of hair, the flow of a robe. And he turns then because—because. Just because.

Green eyes hold him in place, a gentle smile lending them warmth, and he is caught, but not really. There is no weaving of a net here, no snares he can wriggle out of. There is only _them_, here, in this moment where they meet, and he knows then that even if everything, every detail of sight and sound and smell, of this moment is carved away, he will remember the sudden clenching of his heart at that smile.

There is a _snap_ of wings, and he thinks, _No, don't leave._ Reaches out a hand, an invitation. _I want to see you again_, he thinks, and reads the answer in a barely perceptible squeeze of the hand, a wind-chime voice: _Yes_.

His heart clenches again, new and painful sensation, unexpected—welcome.


	18. Together

**Title: **Together  
**Fandom: **Wish  
**Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#26--Snuggle  
**Rating: **G  
**Summary: **He likes this, he thinks: the simplicity and quietness of a moment shared together.  
**Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Wish doesn't belong to me. Oh, and no spoilers.

He likes this, he thinks. The simplicity, the quietness that allows things deeper than words to flow between him and the angel by his side. They are two together in the darkness, high above the stilled streets, and this is how he wants it to be: just them. But too often there's clutter, the needs of everyday life, and it's only once in a while that they can snatch at moments like this.

"Kokuyo." It's an exhale of all the worries and duties of daylight. "Look at the stars."

He grunts, but tilts his head up obligingly. "I'm looking."

"They're beautiful."

And they are. They're bright, scattered haphazardly, happily, about a black backdrop. He curls his fingers about a slender a hand, his own way of answering.

He likes this, he thinks. Even if they don't get to do it often enough, even if it's not always _just_ them. Because it _is_ always _them_: together.


	19. Quiet Life

**Title: **Quiet Life**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#4—All Dressed Up**  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **When he doesn't sleep at nights, he admires the one lying next to him.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **No spoilers. WISH doesn't belong to me. I think that's about it.

He kisses a bare shoulder, moon-white in the lightlessness of the room. The person next to him stirs, drowsy smile greeting him. "Kokuyo…" It is a soft murmur breathed against his cheek, and he brushes his hand across the slope of a shoulder.

"Hey."

"You are still awake?"

"You know I don't sleep much."

A quiet chuckle vibrates in the still night air. "No, you don't, do you? What do you do during these nights, then?"

"I admire the very nice view."

"Oh?"

He feels an arm draw him close, and the sweet scent if white plums brushes his senses. Eyes closing, he smiles. "Yeah."

"Does it help you sleep?"

He bends his head, lips pressed to the hollow of a throat. "Always."


	20. Here with You

**Title: **Here with You**  
Fandom: **Wish**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#6—Vacation**  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **You would think that every once in a couple of hundred years, you deserved a break.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **Spoilers for the ending of Wish, which doesn't belong to me.

"Do you ever feel," Kokuyo says, "that we need a vacation every once in a while? Or, I don't know, maybe permanently?"

Hisui smiles at him over the peas he is shelling. "A vacation? From what?"

"From _this_." Kokuyo waves his arm about the kitchen; and, as if conjured, Koryu bursts inside, full-sized even during the daytime now, and Kohaku follows, on the verge of tears.

Hisui gets up and goes to comfort the angel. On the way, he looks at Kokuyo as if to say, "Go on vacation, when we're always needed for things like this?"

Kokuyo sighs, as if to answer, "You'd think after more than a hundred years, we'd deserve _some_ kind of break."

* * *

The next day, Hisui goes to search for Kokuyo, slightly perplexed. He finds the devil, who looks smug and satisfied, in the kitchen.

"Kokuyo?"

"Hmm?"

"Where is everybody?"

"Gone."

Hisui raises an eyebrow. "Gone?"

"As in, not here."

"Then where are they?"

"At the beach. The bubblehead suddenly had an urge for fresh sea breeze, so Shuichiro decided to oblige him."

"Ah…" Hisui walks over to Kokuyo, and the demon snags him by the waist, whispering into his ear,

"We have the house to ourselves for nearly the whole day."

"And would this happen to be your idea of a vacation?"

"Perhaps."

Hisui smiles suddenly; as always, Kokuyo finds his breath trapped, eyes captivated. "And what do you suggest we do with this vacation?"

He clears his throat to speak. "Well, we could always start by going out for breakfast, so you don't have to cook."

"That sounds like a nice prospect."

Kissing Hisui's cheek, Kokuyo murmurs, "Good. And then for today, for once, just do whatever you want—please."

Hisui strokes his face gently. "I already did what I wanted when I decided to stay with you here on Earth."

"Promise…" It is a plea uttered to the only one who could ever humble him, and the only one who could ever understand the need in his voice. "Promise that you will stay with me."

"I promise; I will always be with you. After all, I chose to come here for that reason…and that has always been the only thing I have ever needed."


	21. All the Same

**Title: **All the Same**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#3—Shopping **  
Rating: **PG-13**  
Summary: **You hardly ever remember the nights; they all blur together, because what is there _to_ remember about them? **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH doesn't belong to me. No spoilers.

You hardly ever remember the nights: the heat, the moans, the brush of sensitive skin on sensitive skin. They mingle and bleed together into a sameness. You don't bother to try and differentiate them. Why? Nothing about any of them stands out.

After a while, though, it begins to wear on you. It was always monotonous; but now it is tiring. You want more than this; you _need_ more than this. But you have no idea how to go about changing it, and deep down you know you are afraid—are you ready?

But then he appears: a breath, a breeze, and you can feel that it is more than his outward beauty that captivates you. It has something to do with his eyes; they are kind, they tug at you in that deep down place. That is how you know that he is the one, that he is the change you want and need. And it doesn't frighten you anymore, because you are ready: ready to take him for who he is, and for him to take you for everything you are.


	22. Pure

**Title: **Pure**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#2—Sunburn**  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **On a trip to the beach, Hisui enjoys the sea breeze and reminisces about his old home.

**Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH doesn't belong to me. No spoilers.

"I don't sunburn," he says, raising an eyebrow at the bottle of suntan lotion in Kokuyo's hand. They are at the beach, on Kohaku's insistence, and while the others are down by the water splashing and laughing, he has preferred to sit on the towel spread over the sand and bask in the sunshine.

Kokuyo grins and squirts some of the lotion onto his hand. "The protection of your beautiful skin isn't what I was thinking of."

"Oh? Then what were you thinking of?"

"Mmm, something like this." They demon leans forward and begins to rub the lotion into his skin, taking special care to go slow and massage his neck, the slope of his shoulder, the hollow at the base of his throat.

He closes his eyes and sighs in pleasure. "This is nice."

"I thought you would enjoy it." Kokuyo kisses his cheek, asks, "So, how's the breeze?"

Breathing in the wind that blows from the ocean, he says, "Not pure."

"The humans always say a sea breeze is the freshest."

"It's not, but… I didn't say I disliked it."

"Yeah?"

"Yes…It tastes of things: places, people, their lives."

"And what about the winds in Heaven?"

"…Pure." He leans against Kokuyo, who strokes his hair. "Stale."

"You don't miss it?"

"I miss my old home, but…"

"But?"

He kisses Kokuyo softly on the mouth. "But I don't regret leaving it."

There is only truth in his words.


	23. Home

**Title: **Home**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#25—Shut up and listen**  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **The years pass by, and Hisui finds himself wishing that there was more time for Kokuyo, for them. **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH doesn't belong to me. This is a follow-up to #17—Five more minutes? Character death.

The years pass by. The tree flourish, and wither, and flourish again through the seasons. Hisui, watching them, finds himself wishing that Kokuyo's life was like that: a constant cycle instead of a one-way road.

"My soul is going nowhere," Kokuyo says. "I left Hell, the only place I belonged. And now I belong nowhere."

"You will always belong with me," Hisui near-whispers.

He smiles and places a hand over the angel's heart. "Home?"

"Always."

* * *

Hisui looks at the flowers in the garden: it is the last days of winter, and snowdrops thrive in melting patches of frost. Kokuyo watches from the porch as the angel brushes a hand over the delicate petals.

"They are supposed to represent hope," he says softly.

Kokuyo shivers, his bones aching in the sharp winter air: he has never felt so old, in body and in spirit. The wrinkles in his face are deep, his hair a pure white that is a shock compared to his obsidian eye. But Hisui is as he has always been: skin smooth, movements graceful, long hair swaying in rhythm with him.

So Kokuyo smiles and says, "Of course. Because there's always hope, isn't there?"

Hisui looks up at him, and he can see the years absent on his face reflected deep in those green eyes, and he thinks what the angel does not say: _Not for you there isn't. Not for us_.

* * *

He lives long enough for spring, for Shuichiro's return and Kohaku's awakening. Kohaku cries when he finds out, and doesn't understand why Kokuyo cannot be reincarnated like Shuichiro.

"He'll come back, he'll come back. We'll wait together, Hisui-sama!"

Koryu looks at him sadly. He takes him by the hand, more gentle than he has ever been, and tries to explain.

Kohaku cries harder.

* * *

"Promise me you'll be happy when I'm gone."

"I can't lie."

"Be happy, please…"

"I love you."

"I will always love you, too. You know that."

Hisui places his hand over the demon's heart. "Home?"

He curls his fingers over Hisui's. "Forever."


	24. Games

**Title: **Games**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#11—Game **  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **"I don't play games."**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **AU. WISH doesn't belong to me.

"I don't play games," Hisui says softly.

"Neither do I."

"Don't lie to me."

"I don't play games," you insist. "Not with you."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Trust me."

"You've hardly done anything to deserve that trust."

"And what about a second chance? Do I deserve that?"

"…Everybody deserves a second chance." It is a whisper.

"Then—"

"But that doesn't mean everyone can _have_ a second chance."

You bite your lower lip. "Please…"

"You slept with her."

"It was a mistake!"

His voice cracks. "One too many."

And the door closes in your face.


	25. Mistakes

**Title: **Mistakes**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#9—Oops!**  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **"Mistakes happen." "That doesn't make them any less damaging!"**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **AU; follow up to #11—Game. WISH doesn't belong to me.

"Mistakes happen," Koryu tells you.

"That doesn't make them any less damaging!"

"Mistakes also aren't irreparable."

"Some are!"

"You don't know until you try to fix them."

You snort. "Since when did you become so wise?"

"Since when did you become such a wuss?"

"A _what_?"

"A wuss." He grins cheekily at you. "Why are you so afraid to go talk to Hisui?"

"Because…"

"I think it's a good thing you are, actually," he muses as you try to think of a reply to that. "Scared, I mean."

"…Why?"

"Because." He shrugs. "It means you care, doesn't it?"

You take a deep breath before you knock on the door.

He opens it. "Kokuyo…"

"I love you," you say. "It's not a lie."

"Is it?" It's a question of doubt, but you step forward, closer, because,

"If you think I'm lying, why do you still have the door open?"

He smiles slightly. "Because…you came."

The door opens a crack.


	26. Legend

**Title: **Legend  
**Fandom: **WISH  
**Characters:**Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#12—Hobbies**  
Rating:**G**  
Summary: **Some things you already know.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH does not belong to me.

Sometimes they tell in legend of the fallen angel and the devil prince who loved him. They tell of their flight to Earth, of their brief time of happiness. They tell of Heaven and Hell going to war, of the tragic end the two lovers came to.

The story always begins at the springs, during the time when flowers and trees bloomed vibrant and alive. Water flowed merrily, and the water sprites flitted everywhere, fully in their element, chattering among themselves about this and that--but most especially about the new Angel Master of the Wind. Hair golden as sunlight, skin fair as porcelain, and eyes green as jade, they chattered: a true beauty.

Later that day, they clamored about someone else as well: Satan's son, whose obsidian black eyes had noticed the new Angel Master, and whose calloused hands had slipped the cloth off that fair skin. Not the first time that they had seen him here with some poor unsuspecting angel, they clucked. But there were some who claimed that they had seen some tenderness, some flicker of warmth in those depthless eyes as they gazed on the slumbering angel.

Those same sprites were not very surprised when the two lovers stopped coming to their rendezvous, and news trickled through about the Angel Master's disappearance, and Satan's Son's mysterious absence. To Earth, they whispered, they've gone to Earth, until their whispers reached the ears of the Angel Master of the Water.

It didn't take long for the two to be discovered, and not that much longer for hostilities between Heaven and Hell to implode. War broke out. The angel was troubled, though the devil was unconcerned. But it reached them, touched them, tore them apart when the angel pleaded for an end to the turmoil and to appease both sides accepted his punishment--mortality. And the devil had to watch from Hell (where he had been forced back to) as his lover aged and died without him.

Even now, there are those who sigh for the fate of those two. But there are also those who say that there are many different outcomes to the same story, and maybe in some other world, some other ending, angel and devil live in peace still.


	27. Just the Normal Course of Things

**Title: **Just the Normal Course of Things**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters:**Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme: **#12—Hobbies**  
Rating:**G**  
Summary: **Some things you already know.**  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH does not belong to me. Vague spoilers for the ending of WISH.

He hands you a rose, blood red, spelled to stay fresh and unwithered.

You say, "I would have liked it better without the spell, but…thank you."

"Here, I'll fix it." He takes the rose away from you and passes his hand over it; it glows slightly for a moment. When he hands it back, you notice that the petals are a little drooped, the color a little faded.

"That's better," you say, and smile.

"It'll die pretty soon," he points out. "Don't you want to keep it?"

"I would rather it died out naturally than have it last forever _un_naturally. Besides, this reminds me that I've wanted to talk to you about having a garden for a while now."

He raises an eyebrow. "There _is_ a garden, and I don't see why you need to talk to me about having one, anyway. It's not like you need my permission." A small smile crepes onto his face.

"I didn't want to ask for you permission," you chuckle, "I wanted to ask for your help."

"My help?"

"Yes. I was thinking about starting up the garden again, maybe adding more to it. It's been a little neglected since Kohaku isn't here."

His face softens. "What did you want to add?"

"Just…some more flowers, here and there. Nothing that would overpower what we already have."

"All right," he says. "When do we start?"

You smile. "How about now?"

* * *

You've planted the roses and other small patches already before you notice that he is staring at you.

"You're supposed to be working," you chide him teasingly.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted."

"Oh? By what?"

He walks over to you and takes your soiled hands in his, stroking the palms gently with his thumbs. "You, obviously."

"I hope you won't say next that it's because I'm more beautiful than the flowers," you say dryly.

"Nope!" He chuckles. "It's because you add to their beauty. You complement it."

"How flattering."

"You don't believe me?"

"Well, I do, but it's not often that I hear you say things like that. I'm just a little surprised."

"I don't like to waste words all the time."

"Good." A small, amused smile tugs at your lips. "Save your breath. You're going to need it to help me in the garden."

"Oh dear. I feel faint already."

You chuckle. "Don't collapse on me." Bringing his hand up to your lips, you kiss it. Then you let go, walk back to your seedlings.

You don't have to look to know that he is helping.


	28. New Every Time

**Title: **New Every Time  
**Fandom: **WISH  
**Characters:**Kokuyo/Hisui  
**Theme: **#7—Good Morning  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary: **You never get tired of the way he completes you.  
**Disclaimer: **WISH doesn't belong to me, only to CLAMP.

Every morning you wake up, you see him next to you. He breathes lightly, chest rising, falling, rising, falling, in a steady rhythm. His hair is fanned out over the pillow and spills down his back; some strands curve against his cheek, pale blond against a smooth cream.

Every morning you lie still and look at him with a small smile on your face. Always, you remember the times when you met him at the springs. They were brief, hurried—you got the luxury of sitting next to him, yes, of talking to him. But you never got the sense of peace that waking up next to him brings you each day now.

You thought, back when you still caroused in Hell, that you needed excitement: to thrive, to live. Now you find yourself happy with quiet things like helping Hisui in the garden or the kitchen; walking in the park by yourself; lying next to Hisui in bed, warm and calm.

It's not that you don't crave excitement still. There are times when you feel restless, when you need a jolt or a rush to stir things up. These are the times when you spread your wings and take off, soar straight up to the sky to feel the wind rushing past you. You go high, higher still, until you stop and suddenly everything is calm again.

So it's not that you don't want those heady experiences anymore. It's just that you know now that they aren't everything you need. They can't be, can't fill in all the spaces you had back then but wouldn't admit to. And now…

Every morning, you wake up, and those spaces in you are filled: with the soft brilliance of sunlight on his golden hair, with the calm evenness of his breathing, with the knowing that you will always have this moment, every time the sun breaks over the horizon—with what you want (and need).


	29. When in Doubt

**Title: **When in Doubt**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme:**#21—Silly hats**  
Rating: **G**  
Summary: **AU. Kokuyo goes birthday gift shopping. **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: **WISH doesn't belong to me.

"When in doubt," Koryu declared, "buy a hat."

Kokuyo snorted. "A_hat_? You think I should buy my boyfriend a hat for his birthday?"

"What? Do you have any better ideas?"

"I don't know… It just seems so simple. Too simple."

"It's not like Hisui expects anything extravagant."

"Hmm…" The taller man browsed through the hats piled on the table before him: white, black, striped, plain. "How about a matching hat and scarf?" he suggested.

"Pick a good color and it'll be a good present."

"…Black." He held up two items, hat and scarf, both the black of a starless night.

Koryu raised an eyebrow.

"It would bring out the green in his eyes…"

"…Uh. Okay."

Kokuyo grinned. "Fantastic. Black it is then."

* * *

He stroked blond hair away. "You like it?" he asked.

"It's beautiful." He smiled. "And warm."

Kokuyo stepped back to admire the sight. Snow falling down, white flakes on black and blond, green eyes bright and sparkling. Pieces, snapshots, a beautiful picture. He smiled.

"Happy birthday," Hisui.


	30. First Person

**Title: **First Person**  
Fandom: **WISH**  
Characters: **Kokuyo/Hisui**  
Theme:**#28—Replies**  
Rating: **PG**  
Summary: **And even if you leave me, and even if you love somebody else—you will forever be my first person. **  
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning:**WISH doesn't belong to me.

When you first see him, you think, "Danger." He is darkness and smoothness and charisma, and you are drawn to him. Curiosity prods you to accept his invitation, so you can see what Satan's son is really like.

You arrive a little late; either that or he has been waiting. His hands are clasped behind his head, his eyes are closed. But you know he is awake, has been so since you fluttered to the ground behind him.

"My mysterious angel," he calls you, grinning. "You came."

"It would be rude not to after saying yes."

"And are you ever rude?"

"Are you?"

"Always," he declares.

Somehow, this makes you laugh. He is frank, open, honest. He might be rude, but he doesn't lie, either. It is a surprise to find this refreshing.

It is even more of a surprise to find that he is the first person to make you laugh so genuinely.

"_But why…why him?"_

"_Because…he makes me happy. Happier than anything."_

* * *

You see him first as an object. A conquest. Maybe your best one, because he is more beautiful than anybody—angel or devil or human—that you have ever seen.

His voice captures you next, melodic and strangely, soothingly deep. You like to close your eyes and listen to it. And when you close your eyes, the world is a blank. You don't see that he is slender and graceful; you don't see the luster of his hair, or the clearness of his skin. You only know his voice, its lilt as it curves around vowels and smoothes the curtness of consonants. His voice makes you see, for once, beyond what your eyes can.

You realize one day that you love him.

You don't know his name, you don't know if he loves you back or not. But you want him to, with an intensity that leaves you feeling dizzy. You want that beautiful voice to call your name lovingly, to laugh at and tease you—always.

It is the first time that you have ever really, truly wanted anything.

"_I mean, I know he's a babe and all, but why risk everything?"_

"_Because—there is something about him that transcends simple beauty." _


End file.
